Many students know that the Fox
Theatre exists, but their knowledge of
the space ends there. These students
aren’t oblivious; the owners of the
theatre are simply in the process
of determining what its use in the
Stevens Point community should be.

The Sanders family, who owned
the Fox Theatre for several years,
donated the building to the Arts
Alliance of Portage County last
spring. Bill Schierl, President of
the Board of Directors of the Arts
Alliance, was involved in deciding
what to do with the Fox at that time.

“The Arts Alliance transferred the
property to the Fox Theatre, LLC
that operates separately from the Arts
Alliance,” Schierl said.

The Fox Theatre, LLC is run by
a non-profit Board of Directors. The
process of transferring ownership to
Fox Theatre, LLC took place over
the summer and the business has
just begun process of evaluating
what is best for the Fox and Stevens
Point. Fox Theatre Board of Directors
President, Greg Wright, explained the
current state of the Fox.

“Assessing the structural capacity
of the building is our main focus
right now,” Wright said. “We have
a number of structural engineers
making bids that will lead us to more
complete information.”

The basic structure is being
assessed to determine what needs to​be done to bring the Fox to a usable
level.

Once the bids are complete, the
Board will be able to determine what
is financially realistic and compelling

“Our first goal is to make sure the building is safe for the public,” to the community. The Fox will
Wright said. ideally be used as a multi-use facility.“First and foremost, we are hoping
to create an economically responsible
institution, both in terms of the
capital we raise to fund the building
and in terms of the programming and
endowment that will keep it running.
Beyond that, our goal is to maximize
the usefulness of the facility for the
community,” Wright said.

While the Fox Theatre, LLC
has conducted market research to
determine the niche it will best serve,
students and faculty hope the Fox
will draw interest downtown and to
the arts.

Caren Heft, the Director for the
Edna Carlsten Gallery, would like
to see the Fox used as a multi-use
performance space or as a theatre
museum.

“We have a lot of arts space in
Stevens Point, and this would be a
jewel in the crown of arts spaces,”
Heft said.

Senior communication student,
Hannah Timler, would be happy with
the Fox being used for more than the
arts.

“It would be cool if it were open
for the public, for people to have
performance opportunities,” Timler
said.

Senior music major, Andrew
Slembarski, hopes the Fox will create
a more vibrant downtown.

“We need to have a downtown
that is an actual downtown, not just a
bunch of bars,” Slembarski said.